A Support Blog for those living with Myositis

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go go gadget arm

Far and away, this is the best gadget we bought when Mo got sick. The lightweight reacher is a simple tool, the handle trigger operates the extended pincer to latch on to things just out of reach. The grasp is surprising tight so it is even able to pick up a sheet of paper. The top peg (looks like a screw sticking from the top) is magnetized to help catch heavier metal pieces like a key, but it is also great for dragging things closer or to get a hold of an edge of something laying flat. We bought ours through YouCan TooCan (the Denver-based medical equipment store), click here, they run around $18. Here’s another link to Amazon.com where the price can range from $10 – $22 (right now on sale for $12), click here.

What we liked so much about this gadget is the amount of energy is saved. Mo’s weakness and immobility was a real challenge at the height of his inflammation. Getting up and out of a chair was too difficult (we had a lift chair at one point), and Mo couldn’t just hop up to go grab something once he was plopped down. Everything started to exist in an orbit around Mo – like little satellites – the handheld phone, the t.v. remote, his notebook, blanket, tissues, and snacks. The reacher (we called it the grabber) made that radius of stuff even further, giving Mo more space around him and me a break from getting up every ten minutes to hand him something else. It is an awesome gadget, well worth the price!